What is it?
Flibanserin, which will be marketed under the brand-name Addyi, is a non-hormonal drug used to restore a woman’s sexual interest.
It’s currently under consideration by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US, and it’s designed for women who suffer from hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD). That’s hypoactive, not hyperactive, just to be clear – where they have lost their desire for sex and are feeling distressed and anxious because of this.
Why it’s not the female Viagra
Viagra has a very simple, entirely physical premise: to improve the blood flow to the penis, to help men get – and keep – erections.
It is one of 26 drugs to help improve men’s sexual performance currently available in the US, whereas Flibanserin is the first drug specifically for women. While it would be perhaps too flippant to link the fact a drug for female sexual dysfunction is more complicated than its male equivalent… here we are.
Flibanserin treats the mental side of lack of arousal, rather than the physical side. It’s more like an antidepressant for your sex drive, working on the brain’s transmitters that are key for sexual response: increasing dopamine and norepinephrine, which helps women feel turned on, as well as increasing serotonin, making women feel less inhibited.
Words by: Emma Clifton
Photos: Thinkstock images